Accra July 1, GNA - The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, (NPP), Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, has stated that Ghana's democracy was gradually being consolidated as a result of good governance and the rule of law upheld by the current administration.

He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to return the NPP to power during the December 7 general elections to enable it to continue building a healthy and prosperous nation.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this when he paid a working visit to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Abbosey Okai area on Monday as part of his campaign tour.

He said the NPP government has laid the foundation to propel the nation into a middle-income status and hoped that members of the party confederacy would continue to work hard and support the government to retain power.

The visit afforded the NPP Presidential candidate the opportunity to know the problems confronting the health sector at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and progress made with the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He said health plays a key role in the development of a nation, hence the government policy to replace the cash and carry system with the NHIS.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, everyone who wanted to lead the country must have a fair idea of how every sector operate and added that one of his priorities when voted into power would be to create the enabling environment for health personnel.

Mr Chris Nartey, Acting Deputy Chief Executive of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital who conducted the NPP Candidate and his entourage around, said lack of personnel, acute budgetary allocation, logistics and congestion were some of the challenges facing the hospital. He said about 64 percent of patients who came to the hospital had not registered with the NHIS.

"It becomes difficult for them to pay for the treatment and this has contributed to the congestion in the hospital," he said.

Mr Nartey said currently the NHIS owed the hospital about 14 million GH cedis as arrears incurred from June 2007 to June 2008. He said to curb the congestion problem there was the need to have separate hospital outside Korle-Bu for female and children. Areas of the hospital visited include the Department of Child Health Block, Cardiothoracic Center, Maternity Block where Nana Akufo-Addo interacted with the patients and donated boxes of fruit drinks, chocolate and biscuits to the children.

At Abbosey Okai, the flagbearer and his entourage were met with cheers by the traders.

Nana Akufo-Addo assured the traders that he would continue to make the private sector an engine of growth for the economy saying: "I will continue to peruse that cause to help traders of Abbosey Okai, since it is the bedrock of industrialization in Ghana".

He said it was the responsibility of every Ghanaian to ensure that the December general elections were organized in a peaceful and credible manner.